^26:52Then the Lord spoke to Moses: ^26:53“To these the land must be divided as an inheritance according to the number of the names. ^26:54To a larger group you will give a larger inheritance,³³ and to a smaller group you will give a smaller inheritance.³⁴ To each one its inheritance must be given according to the number of people in it.³⁵^26:55The land must be divided by lot; and they will inherit in accordance with the names of their ancestral tribes. ^26:56Their inheritance must be apportioned³⁶ by lot among the larger and smaller groups.

^26:57And these are the Levites who were numbered according to their families: from Gershon, the family of the Gershonites; of Kohath, the family of the Kohathites; from Merari, the family of the Merarites. ^26:58These are the families of the Levites: the family of the Libnites, the family of the Hebronites, the family of the Mahlites, the family of the Mushites, the family of the Korahites. Kohath became the father of Amram. ^26:59Now the name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, daughter of Levi, who was born³⁷ to Levi in Egypt. And to Amram she bore Aaron, Moses, and Miriam their sister. ^26:60And to Aaron were born Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. ^26:61But Nadab and Abihu died when they offered strange fire³⁸ before the Lord. ^26:62Those of them who were numbered were 23,000, all males from a month old and upward, for they were not numbered among the Israelites; no inheritance was given to them among the Israelites.

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Footnotes

33 Heb “to many you will multiply his inheritance.”
34 Heb “to a few you will lessen his inheritance.”
35 Heb “according to those that were numbered of him,” meaning, in accordance with the number of people in his clan.
36 Heb “divided.”
37 Heb “who she bore him to Levi.” The verb has no expressed subject. Either one could be supplied, such as “her mother,” or it could be treated as a passive.
38 The expression אֵשׁ זָרָה (’esh zarah, “strange fire”) seems imprecise and has been interpreted numerous ways (see the helpful summary in J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [ 4], ). The infraction may have involved any of the following or a combination thereof: (1) using coals from some place other than the burnt offering altar (i.e., “unauthorized coals” according to J. Milgrom, Leviticus [], 1:; cf. Lev 16:12 and cf. “unauthorized person” [אִישׁ זָר, ’ish zar] in Num 16:40 [17:5 ], “layman”), (2) using the wrong kind of incense (cf. the Exod 30:9 regulation against “strange incense” [קְטֹרֶת זָרָה, qétoret zarah] on the incense altar and the possible connection to Exod 30:34–38), (3) performing an incense offering at an unprescribed time (B. A. Levine, Leviticus [], ), or (4) entering the Holy of Holies at an inappropriate time (Lev 16:1–2). This event is narrated in Lev 10:1–7.